San Francisco- Last Destination

We have arrived at our last destination for this vacation.  As soon as arriving into San Francisco we stopped at one of the internationally recognized symbols of the historic town, the Golden Gate Bridge.   Frommers travel guide calls it possibly the most beautiful and most photographed bridge in the world.

The bridge reminded me of the Grand Canyon; one of the sights you have to see in person to realize truly how magnificent it is.  Pictures cannot give detail to what my eyes have seen.

My favorite family photo on this trip. 

Late afternoon we winded down the streets to Muir Park.  Muir Wood's spreads 554 acres of God's creation of the Coastal Redwoods.  

 The middle tree in the photo taken above was struck by lightening.  The root structure of the original tree formed a circular area of surrounding trees.

Photographed by Caroline...

 I took the picture below to showcase the size of the Coastal Redwoods. Pictured in front of Matt is the base of a single redwood.

Marking the thousand years of a Redwood

 Yesterday we cruised the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Alcatraz.

Alcatraz- "The Rock"

 The island was formed for a military and federal prison, which in 1986 became a national landmark.

 A little playing on San Francisco's piers

View from the Bay Cruise

 Below are photos taken from the Bay Cruise:

 Little known fact: There are nets of workers under the bridge at all times.  The workers are supported by twines of nets and paint the bridge from one side to the other.  Once they have finished the entire length they start all over again at the previous end of the bridge.

 Photos from the back side of Alcatraz:

 We walked past the piers to take a ride on the cable cars.  San Francisco's cable car system is the last manually operated cable car system; only three routes remain.

Our view from the cable car

We are about to adventure out for our last day of vacation....

Monterey, CA

 We are now in Monterey enjoying the simple life. The breeze is blowing, waves are crushing, and people are strolling.  We started off the morning early at Fisherman's Wharf visiting the wholesale market that is open to the public with fresh fish right off the boats.  

True fishing boat...no glamour

Metal storage bins for the fish/seafood

Fisherman's Wharf Harbor

 We had lunch on the Wharf and take a look at our view..the elephant seal orchestra.  Beautiful music to our ears and check out the fishing boat beside the whales; a perfect lunch view.

 And we go to see the mini sailboats float by our window

 Last night we had dinner with Dakota, a friend from our church.  Dakota is stationed in California for military reasons.  It is nice to get to see old friends that have moved away. We had dinner on Cannery Row at Bubba Gumps and went to have cinnamon rolls after our meal.  Check out these cinnamon rolls...

Matt had a birthday yesterday and it was a joy to just be able to spend the day with him.  When you do not see your husband for a year, the simple things in life are joyful.  I have a caring, loving, and joyful husband.  Happy Birthday Matt!

Santa Barbara- Vacation Day 5

We stayed in this quaint Wine Valley Inn in Solvang for the past two evenings.  Solvang is a dutch town that sits just outside of Santa Barbara.  If you are looking for a wine tasting community and getaway Solvang is a quaint place to visit.

We began our exploring in Santa Barbara downtown at the Mission Museum, which some say is the most photographed building in the nation.  If you are like me, you might be wondering how they know it is the most photographed building in the nation?? I do not know how they arrived at that statistical knowledge, but we decided to participate and add to the number of photographs of the building.

Years ago Santa Barbara started a fundraising event by different people/organizations purchasing an area on the courtyard to draw with sidewalk chalk. The event has now spread and so has the artistic ability.  There is  A LOT of detail put into these squares and the squares are drawn with sidewalk chalk that will fade and only have ruminants by August.

Caroline in front of the Santa Barbara Mission

 Drawn with Sidewalk chalk...

 We walked the pier and Santa Barbara Wharf, dined at Moby Dick's Restaurant, and then strolled the beach.

 I enjoyed the relaxation, peace and quite, and laughter of my little one.

My view of the palms

My two favorite people..I adore them

 We left Solvang this morning and drove into forty miles of vineyards.  Stunning.  We connected to the Pacific Coast Highway.  The view from the highway was picture perfect.  We marked this drive off our bucket list.  The Pacific Coast Highway is a must if you are in California.

 Along Highway 1 we stopped at Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals.  A moment of awe when you see these animals in the wild lying on the banks of the highway with not a care in the world.

We saw stunning views of nature today, and the scenic highway with mountains on one side and the pacific coast on the other.